A Santa Barbara County election worker gathers unopened mail-in ballots after they go through a machine. The Elections Office released the latest results from Tuesday's election on Thursday, and have thousands more ballots to process.
A Santa Barbara County election worker gathers unopened mail-in ballots after they go through a machine. The Elections Office released the latest results from Tuesday's election on Thursday, and have thousands more ballots to process. Credit: Daniel Green / Noozhawk photo

Luis Esparza has pulled ahead of incumbent Judge Thomas Adams in the close race for the Superior Court seat, according to updated Santa Barbara County Elections Office results released Thursday.

The results include about 10,000 more countywide ballots since the Tuesday night count, when Adams was ahead. Esparza now leads with 50.0% of the vote compared to Thomas’ 49.7%. They were separated by 230 votes in the first post-election update.

Updated results show several candidates have solidified their leads, while others remain in tight races.

Santa Barbara County has counted 77,037 ballots as of Thursday and elections officials estimate they have 34,188 unprocessed ballots.

The two candidates running for the Santa Barbara County Superior Court judicial seat on Tuesday's ballot include longtime Judge Thomas Adams, left, and local attorney Luis Esparza.
The two candidates running for the Santa Barbara County Superior Court judicial seat on Tuesday’s ballot include longtime Judge Thomas Adams, left, and local attorney Luis Esparza. Credit: Rebecca Caraway / Noozhawk photos

The race for the Fifth District seat on the Board of Supervisors remains a three-way race with Ricardo Valencia in the lead, followed by Maribel Aguilera and then Cory Bantilan. If no candidate gets 50% of the vote, which seems likely, the top two will face each other in a November runoff election.

Valencia is ahead with 37.86% of the vote, Aguilera has received 33.27%, and Bantilan trails with 28.43%. Each spot is separated by fewer than 300 votes.

In the race for county auditor-controller, challenger Kyle Slattery’s lead has grown slightly over the incumbent, Betsy Schaffer. Slattery had 51.97% of the vote compared to Schaffer’s 47.69% as of Thursday’s count.

Lompoc Measure B 2026 is still failing with only 46.2% in favor, when it needs 66% approval.

Other races saw candidates expand their leads, like incumbent Laura Capps over Elijah Mack in the race for the Second District seat on the Board of Supervisors.

Challenger Melinda Greene has also strengthened her lead against incumbent Joe Holland in the race for clerk-recorder-assessor.

Salud Carbajal and Bob Smith will face off for the 24th District Congressional seat in November. Carbajal easily came in first with 54.7% of the vote and Smith came in second in the four-way contest.

In the race for the 37th District, Assemblymember Gregg Hart drew 62.3% of the vote over challenger Sari Domingues. They both move forward to the November ballot.

The next batch of updated ballot results will be released on Monday afternoon.

— Noozhawk staff writer Daniel Green can be reached at dgreen@noozhawk.com.